More sketches, Watercolour Pencils, and Stanley Lewis

More strange sketches of guys. I guess things go in waves. Drawing lots of old men at the moment, and other things you might see later on.



This one isn't very technically accomplished. I was trying to fill a relatively large area (10"x13") with those watercolour pencils, and they aren't made for that (I know. I've seen it. But I'm very lazy, and also very sloppy). So, I had to cheat with the paints, but hadn't wetted the paper beforehand. Also, it's tough doing a bigger-scale scene without some planning. Still, it captures pretty well the feeling of the street this afternoon, as I sketched it from my second-floor balcony step.

Sad today to learn that Stanley Lewis died. He was this crochety old sculptor who lived above the headstone yard that was next door to the used bookstore on Saint Laurence Boulevard where I used to work. He'd always go out around noon with his Tilley hat, looking like Mr. Punch with his big nose and chin, and say hello to me.

I was lucky in that a few months ago, he actually took me up to see his studio. Very cluttered and dusty. Lots of sheets covering things, rock powder from the tools he used. Plenty of magazine clippings on the wall of old statuary: Michelangelo and the Greeks. He showed me his pride and joy, a Brancusi-like abstract female nude carved from pink marble. The trouble with marble was, he explained, that it was often veined with a darker material, and planning had to be careful, because you can't have the veins in the wrong places.

I wonder if Praxitele's Venus had to worry about that?

Anyhow, Stanley's style, while "modern," is a little dated now. There's actually a gallery on Sherbrooke, the Galerie Milhalis (if it still exists), which has an upper room crowded with his stuff. It would be neat if it came back into fashion, the way art that gets stuck in attics sometimes does.

Now, without Stanley, Mr. George the bookseller, and Simcha the grocer, Montreal's lost a part of its feeling. Still I hope there are younger "characters" who can rise up and fill their places.

ADDENDUM: Zeke's Gallery Blog, from whom I lifted that link to the art image up there, has a note about a tribute concert to Lewis. [link]